The boat cops probably have to log so many man hours on the boat to show the feds to justify the grant from Homeland Security. Show results of water patrols or give the money back deal, which is typical of fed grants. This the same as the so-called war on drugs which is why people get popped for having a single joint in their pocket, for example.
When I worked for the Wash. Game Dept. many years ago, it almost cost more to track the hours worked on the project the grant was for than the amount of work on the project on the ground. The bios really got frustrated at times with the record keeping when they could be in the field doing something wothwhile for the resource.
If the feds don't get the numbers they want, then the grant may have to be repaid. Killerbeee is probably correct and the cops were probably embarrassed to being doing what they were doing.